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REGISTER OF HERITAGE PLACES - ASSESSMENT DOCUMENTATION HERITAGE COUNCIL OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA 11. ASSESSMENT OF CULTURAL HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE The criteria adopted by the Heritage Council in November, 1996 have been used to determine the cultural heritage significance of the place. 11. 1 AESTHETIC VALUE* The homestead, with its stone walls, surrounding verandahs and windowless northern and southern elevations, is a good example of North-West vernacular architecture, designed to meet local climatic conditions. (Criterion 1.2) The free stone construction of the shearers' kitchen is a significant achievement in stone construction. (Criterion 1.2) The surrounding outbuildings contribute to the aesthetic value of the place as a related group of structures. (Criterion 1.2) Cooya Pooya Station presents a landmark quality in the pastoral landscape. (Criterion 1.3) 11. 2. HISTORIC VALUE Cooya Pooya Station is associated with the development of the pastoral industry in the Roebourne region since the early 1880s. The place was a regular stop on the main thoroughfare through the region and was well known for the social events hosted there. (Criterion 2.1) Cooya Pooya Station has close associations with many Aboriginal people who worked and lived on the property. (Criteria 2.2 & 2.3) Cooya Pooya Station has close associations with the W. S. Hall and the Lockyer and the Stove families, early pastoralists in the Pilbara who were prominent in the development of the North-West pastoral industry. (Criterion 2.3) The place demonstrates the innovative and extensive use of concrete by Percy Stove, the ‘Concrete King’. (Criterion 2.4) 11. 3. SCIENTIFIC VALUE * For consistency, all references to architectural style are taken from Apperly, R., Irving, R., Reynolds, P., A Pictorial Guide to Identifying Australian Architecture: Styles and Terms from 1788 to the Present Angus & Robertson, North Ryde, 1989. Register of Heritage Places - Assessment Doc’n Cooya Pooya Station 1 02/09/1998 The complex of buildings at Cooya Pooya Station contributes to an understanding of a way of life associated with pastoralism and the development of that industry in the North-West. (Criterion 3.2) The free stone construction of the shearers' kitchen is a significant achievement in stone construction for the period and location . (Criterion 3.3) 11. 4. SOCIAL VALUE Cooya Pooya Station is valued by the local community as a former pastoral station homestead and for its associations with people involved in the development of the North-West pastoral industry. (Criterion 4.1) Register of Heritage Places - Assessment Doc’n Cooya Pooya Station 2 02/09/1998 12. DEGREE OF SIGNIFICANCE 12. 1. RARITY The freestone shearers’ kitchen building is an exceptional example of stone construction. There are no other known examples in the region. (Criterion 5.2) 12. 2 REPRESENTATIVENESS Cooya Pooya Station demonstrates the principle characteristics of a pastoral settlement in the early 1900s. (Criterion 6.1) Cooya Pooya Station is representative the range of activities associated with pastoral development in the Pilbara, and of the activities of subsequent generations. The place demonstrates the development of the pastoral industry over a considerable period of time. (Criterion 6.2) 12. 3 CONDITION Cooya Pooya Station has been vacant since 1984. The condition of the place reflects the effects of the environment, vandalism and neglect since that time. The kitchen building has been vacant since 1950, and although the roof is no longer in place, the stone walls are intact. The homestead and shearers kitchen roofs are still largely intact. Overall, the condition of the place is poor. 12. 4 INTEGRITY Although the place is now vacant and unused, the original intent is still very clear. The place demonstrates a potential for restoration and has a moderate degree of integrity. 12. 5 AUTHENTICITY The place has a high degree of authenticity, with the majority of the original fabric intact. The c. 1950s concrete additions also retain a high level of authenticity. Register of Heritage Places - Assessment Doc’n Cooya Pooya Station 3 02/09/1998 13. SUPPORTING EVIDENCE The documentary evidence has been researched and compiled by Laura Gray, heritage and conservation consultant, with some primary research by Gillian O’Mara, archival researcher. The physical evidence has been compiled by Laura Gray. 13. 1 DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE Cooya Pooya Station homestead and associated buildings are located 35 kilometres south of Roebourne, on the banks of the Harding River. The derivation of the name 'Cooya Pooya' is unclear. A pool nearby was named 'Cooa Pooey' and is is likely that the name of the station was taken from this.1 In 1861, an exploration party led by Francis T. Gregory, arrived at the cove at the head of Nickol Bay, landing near the site of what was to become the town of Roebourne. Gregory led an expedition inland reaching the area of the existing Millstream Station.2 After the publication of Gregory's journal, in which he recorded the agricultural potential of the land, prospective settlers from the Swan River and Eastern colonies vied for pastoral leases in the area. Thomas Lockyer, a Northam settler, and his four sons took up Table Hill Station (later Cooya Pooya) in 1882.3 It is assumed that the first stone homestead and the shearers’ kitchen, were constructed during the first years of the Lockyer's tenure, c. 1883.4 William Shakespeare Hall ran the blacksmith shop, which was located to the east of the existing dry stone building (the shearers' kitchen). 5 Hall had arrived in the area in the early 1860s and had worked on serval stations in the area prior to seeking employment at Table Hill. Hall tended the Station's horses, as well as those of travellers passing through. He was well respected for the assistance he gave to new arrivals, including the Withnells, and is commemorated in the Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Roebourne.6 As the road to the hinterland passed through Table Hill, the homestead provided a regular stopping place for those travelling through the Pilbara. The road ran south of the shearing shed and across the flats to a causeway through Hick's Gap.7 Everyone who travelled inland passed through the 1 Converstation with staff member, Geographic Names, DOLA, 29 April 1998. The pool was lost when the Harding River was flooded. A letter from the Library Board of Western Australia to the Roebourne District Tourist Association, dated 7 July 1982, states that Cooya Pooya was named Cooa Pooey at some stage, HCWA File P3376. 2 Withnell Taylor, N. E. A saga of the Northwest Yeera-muk-a-doo; The first settlement of north-west Australia told through the Withnell and Hancock families 1861-1890. Hesperian Press, Carlisle, 1987, pp. 16-22. 3 Table Hill Station was originally part of Springs Station. D Garden, Northam: An Avon Valley History, Hesperian Press, Carlisle, 1979, p 95. Unnamed, undated research titled ‘Cooya Pooya Station’, BL; discussion with members of the Stove family. 4 The original homestead is no longer extant. 5 'Cooya Pooya Station', op. cit,; discussion with members of the Stove family. 6 Correspondence, 5 June 1993, Daphne Gratte to G. MacGill ,HCWA File 3376. 7 Hicks owned Spring Station. The gap is also known as Lockyer's Gap. Register of Heritage Places - Assessment Doc’n Cooya Pooya Station 4 02/09/1998 Station until the 1950s, when the route was diverted through Pyramid Station.8 In the mid-1880s, the Lockyers employed an average of 15 European and Chinese, and 50 Aboriginal, workers.9 By the early 1890s, the Aboriginal population had increased to 45 males, 39 females and 12 children under five years of age. The Aboriginal people were employed under 12 month agreements to do all manner of station and domestic work, and received rations and clothing in lieu of monetary payment.10 The Lockyers ran sheep on the property, pasturing them on the tableland and Upper Fortesque areas of the extensive property during the wet season; they were driven back to the homestead run for shearing. The Lockyers also ran stud sheep, cattle and horses near the homestead. Thoroughbred horse breeding formed a moderate contribution to the property's income. In the early 1900s, Samuel L Burges took up the lease on Table Hill and changed the name to Cooya Pooya Station. Circa 1907, Burges had a homestead built on Cooya Pooya Station by Bunning Bros., who had established themselves in the Pilbara before moving to Perth.11 The Stove brothers, Thomas, Percy and Arthur, of Mt Welcome Station leased Cooya Pooya in partnership with J. H. Church, the local member of Parliament, in the name of Harding River Pastoral Company on 1 April 1918.12 By 1920, other leases comprising Cooya Pooya Station had been acquired by the Company.13 Percy Stove and his wife Daisy (nee Fisher of Mt Fisher Station) made Cooya Pooya their home when they married in 1921, and Percy took over the Station management for the Company.14 Percy Stove was a member of the Roebourne and Tablelands Roads Boards and a member of the Roebourne Race Club, as well as an amateur jockey.15 On 9 July 1925, the remaining Cooya Pooya leases were transferred to J. H. Church, and the Stove brothers.16 That year, part of the Cooya Pooya Station homestead roof was ripped off in a cyclone, resulting in the cracked mortar that has not been replaced.17 By the late 1930s, the Harding River Pastoral Company had taken up Daniels Well Station on the Tablelands and Church had independently acquired Mt Florence Station. Circa 1939, the decision was made to disband the Company, with Church taking the Stoves' interest in Daniels Wells in exchange for his interest in Cooya Pooya Station.

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